After Miyuki finished her entrance speech ceremony, our day was essentially over. After her, the council student president, Mayumi Saegusa-senpai, said some congratulatory and welcoming words. Something along the lines of keeping unity and getting along.
Pretty words considering the segregatory hell they created. It was a rather eventful day, but things would get a lot more interesting tomorrow. I was quite enjoying the experience of a futuristic high school.
Miyuki came to us once she finished and settled next to her brother, looking like a royal princess. She put her gaze on me first and smiled warmly.
"It is nice to meet you, Yatsushiro-san. We have been eagerly expecting you ever since we heard you were coming to the First Institute," Miyuki bowed respectfully.
"The pleasure is mine, Miyuki-san, please, Mashiro is okay, no need for surname".
"I understand~ we have heard so much about you".
"Bad things I pressume" I joked.
"Not at all, Mashiro-san. I have personally read your most recent thesis on electromagnetism for modern CAD development, and I find it rather intriguing," Tatsuya said, our conversation quickly drawing the attention of everyone else in our group as we walked out of the podium.
I could have sworn I saw Mizuki's ears flutter as she listened in.
"You did, Tatsuya-san? Thank you so much!"
"I presume I wasn't the only one who did, but yes".
'What are they talking about?' I heard Mizuki whisper. This girl... she doesn't know how to whisper quietly?
Erika noticed this and smirked towards me, then spoke out loud for all of us to hear, "You didn't know, Mizuki? Ma-kun is a member of one of the Ten Great Clans, perhaps even the most traditional and old of them all, the Yatsushiro".
"E-Eh? Ten Great Clans?" Mizuki paled, she realised she had been talking rather casually to someone from a prestigious background.
"Mizuki-san, it would be nice if you kept treating me as you have until now".
"Okay, are you sure?".
"Positive~".
"I did know that you were from the main clans, but I never saw you as one of those stuck-up assholes we have heard today", Mikihiko commented.
"Ma-kun is one of the best ones out there~"
"Please, stop with the Ma-kun".
"Would you rather Ma-chan?~"
"Ma-kun is alright, actually..."
I was just joking with her, mostly. In an informal setting, she would even call me Yatsushiro-sama, and I didn't know which was worse since she'd always say that rather sarcastically.
"So he's the smart type, huh?" Leo inquired.
"Not only that, but he has a big brain too, doing a lot of research and posting papers every year since he was thirteen" Erika chuckled, "What he doesn't have in muscle, he has in brain".
'I have muscle, though, I am just not gonna show her'.
"A-Amazing..." Mizuki smiled, her eyes staring deeply at mine. What the hell is wrong with her eyes? They look too magical; it is almost a crime that she's wearing glasses.
The conversation seemed to naturally shift towards me, and even Tatsuya spoke, looking at Miyuki.
"From an early age, Mashiro-san has been interested in the development of CAD and has openly criticised the inability of CAD to train the human brain into comprehending cryptic geometrical patterns for magic sequence engraving in the human brain".
His words left everyone blank; they wanted to ask for a briefer explanation but were too ashamed to. As for me? I didn't know if I was surprised or scared that this guy seemed to track my research so deeply.
"In short, he has studied traditional magic practices and is against the use of CAD, thinking that our progressive technological development has made us unable to canalise magic for ourselves and develop our brain to adapt to it as it should, as per Darwinist theory"
"Sounds reasonable, but I don't think we have a choice", Mikihiko said.
I nodded towards Mikihiko, "That's right, we don't. Modern technological and magician society places importance on results over methods. The evolution of the brain takes way longer time than the development of new technologies. If we were to follow these more 'natural' practices, we'd lag behind other nations, clans, corporations... tons of money would be lost, and national security could be compromised by our opponents who are way ahead. Hence why, despite it being a belief, it is not really taken into consideration by any goverment of agency. It is a genuine problem with no solution".
"But at the same time, the fast advancement of development makes it so that only those with the economic means have access to it, which takes us to the social problems we are currently facing", Tatsuya added and finished, almost with the exact words I had finished my last thesis.
Well, Mashiro Yatsushiro had.
We looked around and precisely... There was this difference between blooms and weeds. After all, those with no magical talent could still buy a very expensive CAD with good performance. But if you couldn't afford a magic academy, forget about being a magician, forget about having your say in society, you'd be a commoner subjected to the greed and ambitions of those up there.
"It is a marvellous thesis, Mashiro-san" Tatsuya smiled, "I wouldn't have had the audacity to post such a natural and realistic anti-magic ideology while coming from a traditional family like the Yatsushiro".
'Well, they threw me away for a reason'.
"Please don't embarrass me, Tatsuya-san, those were only the ramblings of an ignorant child".
"I don't think so at all. Although there are a lot of things I don't agree with, I do believe CADs have truncated our brain from being able to naturally comprehend more complex magic sequences".
We continued walking to the exit while deep in a conversation with even Erika saying that she didn't care about technology or natural development so long as she was able to swing her sword. I wasn't surprised by her low-IQ input.
"Should we continue this conversation over dinner? I believe it was a wonderful and productive first day" I invited them, already imagining Houki's expression.
"My maid should be coming to pick me up shortly, if you all want, she can drive us to a nice place, and I will invite".
"Free food from Ma-kun, Yay!".
"Erika-chan, manners..." Mizuki sighed.
We made it to the main gate, but... There was a group blocking the gate. We lifted our sight, and there he was... the same guy from before, although he was not the leader this time. What was his name again? I don't know... I don't care.
There were five of them, and right in front was someone I did know, or at least, I had seen face-to-face, even if we didn't talk.
"Can you move..." I said.
"Mashiro Yatsushiro" He mumbled... and didn't move.
"Morisaki Shun".
Just like Erika, he's also from the main hundred families. I have seen just as much as Erika, although we're not even acquainted. In fact, I can always feel his mocking gaze.
"You did quite a number before. Do you think weeds are allowed to do whatever they want here?" He began, smirking evily. We all rolled our eyes when the word weed came out.
"School is finished for today. Move," I said again.
"You're going nowhere", he said, and then the other guy yelled, still nursing his hand, "You can't humiliate me and expect to just go home as if nothing happened!".
We were in the middle of the main gate, students staring at us... the first day. Do these guys really want to do this?
"Do you know who you're talking to?" I frowned. I am not someone to use background as leverage, especially because my family despises me. But it is not like I don't have a say at all. If I make a scene, a narrative, saying how this Morisaki pussy disrespected the prestigious Yatsushiro family in Tokyo, forget about this guy... his father will be in deep shit.
"I am talking to a powerless, disowned fellow. That's what you are. To be sent here all the way from Kyushu, to not attend the eight institute that's technically your family's playground. Do you think we don't understand? You were thrown out, fool".
I frowned further, clenching my fist. He wasn't wrong on that, but he was wrong to think that I wouldn't get them to do anything.
He was even more wrong to think I needed my family to solve my problems. I am not yet used to this body, but... I know Mashiro is packing. This is the first iteration, I can bear to be reckless.
Mizuki stepped forward, "Retract what you said".
I was surprised; she was shivering again. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. The rest of us just stood there, waiting to see what this guy was going to do.
"Oh? And who is this harlot?" He insulted Mizuki... and I didn't like that.
I took a few steps forward, separating from the group. Erika mumbled something, but I rose my hand, indicating for her to be quiet.
"I am here. What's your plan, Shun?" I mocked him, even calling his name without honorifics.
"Kneel down and apologise", Morisaki demanded with anger. He reached into the pocket of his coat and took out a CAD that resembled a controller, standard.
"Not going to happen. So? What are you going to do?" I also reached for my CAD in my pocket. But what I took out was a pen-sized cad with three small buttons. Small, neat, perfect... elite.
A two-hundred-thousand-dollar CAD versus a ten-thousand-dollar CAD tops.
That's the difference between his family and mine.
If I win or I get beaten, I will do it on my own. I need to know how strong I am anyway, if I want to have any chance of completing these missions. If I can't even beat this guy, how am I going to beat Tatsuya?
Seeing that he wasn't going to get me to kneel, he pressed some buttons in his cad and began casting. We were game. Using magic in school grounds is prohibited. With this alone, even if I didn't do anything, he was going to face the consequences, rich family or not.
I felt the psionic waves from his spell, and as time passed, it became clearer, like an unblurring image. I was shocked when the knowledge entered my mind almost intuitively.
'Balance distort...? A spell to shatter the targets' sense of gravity and balance' It was relatively harmless, but once you were hit by it, you'd be at a huge disadvantage.
I was surprised. Mashiro can read psionic pattern sequences while the spell has yet to be fully executed? I mean, I didn't know shit about this world's magic, and even I am amazed. That's like watching an approaching bullet that's coming to you and being able to see what calibre it is, what make, what gun it was shot from, and even its serial number, all in those nanoseconds while it is coming.
Anyway. How preposterous to attack me with gravity.
I ran towards him and activated my own spell. Way too slow... even when my CAD was a lot more high-quality than his. His spell was released before mine, as it was to be expected, a yellow magic circle manifested beneath me alongside some rather cool sound effects.
I felt the effect on my legs, and he smirked. Thinking I was about to fall. But then my spell activated, a golden magic circle exploded from my cad and the whole place was covered in a brilliant light, a flashbang of sorts.
!!!
He lost his focus while covering his eyes; as a result, his spell was cancelled.
And he was blind too... but I? I could see very clearly. There were only two people in this crowd who were able to see, as I'd come to know later.
In no time, I was in front of him. I swept his feet and immobilised him. Simple as that.
Typical young mages have one characteristic, usually: They're physically weak as hell. Not all of them are like Erika or Saijo Leonhard, who look rather strong; most of them have never engaged in an actual fist fight. They undermine the value of physical self-defence immensely.
That's one of the few things that my father, Mikage Yatsushiro, compelled me to do. He is the one who got me to train in aikido, although I started liking it later.
"Bastard!" Morisaki struggled, but his efforts were like those of a baby, no strength at all.
There were shouts and gasps, but then…
"What is the meaning of this!?" We heard a lady's outraged shout. It was the council president, Saegusa Mayumi, and she came alongside the Public Morals Committee Chief, Watanabe Mari, who is essentially the police. And... they caught me in the worst position possible.
It looked as if I was bullying the kid. This is exactly what I didn't want. Couldn't this damn woman arrive two minutes earlier?
"Yatsushiro-san", she bit her lips and frowned, "I'm gonna have to ask you to give me an explanation"
I was going to talk, but Erika, as stubborn yet protective as always, was going to give the explanation for me. But just then, I felt psionic movement from Morisaki.
!!!
He took a weapon out of his coat and pointed it at me. I felt my heart stop for a moment. A gun, a pistol?!
"You damn weed! Take this!"
"Stop!" Mayumi shouted.
Tatsuya frowned.
Everyone got alerted.
As for me, I looked at the cannon in shock. But then, silence…
My eyes opened, my eyelids fluttering ever so slowly. Slow, too slow.
My whole body moved like I was sinking in quicksand. Around me… everything was frozen, the activating sequence in Morisaki's gun seemed to move slowly as well. It wasn't an actual gun. It was a CAD shaped like a gun, figures.
I felt danger coming from it; the magic sequence was an offensive type, it wasn't until it developed a bit later, what felt like minutes for me, that I realised the spell was called 'Fierce Wind'. It generated a gale of wind that would blast enemies away. It was bad... but not that bad.
Once I put my focus on it, the sequence slowed down considerably, literally freezing in front of me. I was the only one moving, although I was too slow.
'What is this…?'
It was an amazing feeling. Everything was almost frozen, but I felt my thoughts flicker through my mind a lot faster; instead... my body could not keep up with my mind.
Nevertheless, the fact that everything slowed down doesn't lessen my predicament. Fierce wind can blast someone several hundred metres away if the gale hits point-blank, like now.
It may be the case for most kids from noble houses, but we have a self-defence spell configured in our CADs in case of emergency. This must be his. I knew there was only one thing I could use now to get out of this situation. Mashiro's CAD had two spells in it. One was a light congregation, the one I used before... it essentially brings all the light particles into one spot, making that spot exceptionally brilliant. It may look like nothing, but this is actually a high-ranked spell.
The other was a secret weapon I was not supposed to show. But if I didn't do anything now, he was going to strike me.
I detected psionic fluctuations from Tatsuya and the other girl next to Mayumi; they were the first to react, but they were slower than Morisaki.
In my cad, I configured the second spell, and the magic sequence started. But it was still too damn slow.
'Damn it, faster! Hurry up!'
That's when the second shock happened. Upon placing my focus on it, it actually sped up! It was WAY faster than Morisaki's in this frozen world.
Before I knew, after a seemingly eternal time-lapse, everything went back to normal.
*RUMBLE!*
Morisaki's cad didn't manage to finish the sequence in time. My pen fired a ripple of disruptive psions, destroying the magic sequence before it was even formed with a loud 'bang!'.
...
Everyone looked at us in shock, even Tatsuya was gasping.
I had managed to surprise Shiba Godsuya, but at the same time... I gained his attention, and perhaps not in a good way. Silence reigned until the sound of my fist punching Morisaki's face resonated.
"Ahhh!!" He held his broken, bleeding nose as I hissed at him with disgust and outrage.
"You used an offensive spell against me on academic grounds. Don't think this is just going to stay like this. My Yatsushiro family is going to have a LONG talk with your Morisaki Family, scum".